Valdez, Alaska

July 24,  Went to Valdez Museum, saw different fire trucks they used to use, different paintings from different artist, very nice, different artifacts from the past, saw movies about the earthquake in 1964 and the oil spill in 1989.  Then onto another museum that continued about the earthquake, the town moving, the houses that were moved to new Valdez and that they burned down the houses that weren’t salvageable, by then Ken was tired of museums.  Walked a few blocks along the harbor until we came upon guys cleaning fish, halibut, salmon and rockfish, they where really busy, everyone coming in from fishing and then taking their fish to get fast frozen and shipped home.  Walked across the street and Tia food for dinner, it was ok but nothing great.  About 6:45 we left and went to the other side of the harbor to the fish hatchery hoping to see bears catching fish, but instead we saw seals catching and eating salmon, very amusing.

Valdez, Alaska

July 23,  We had reservations for a cruise through Prince William Sound today, had to be at the boat by 8 am, board the boat at 8:30 and it pulled out at 9 am.  The boat wasn’t full only about 45 people, which was nice, could move around more easily.  We saw otters, stellar sea lions, a black bear, Dall’s porpoise, harbor seals, black legged kittiwakes, bald eagles and puffins fly by.  The weather wasn’t the greatest, foggy, and drizzly.  We had gone into the Columbia Glacier for a short period of time and then to Meares Glacier, while traveling through ice bergs.  They had served lunch, chicken, rice with Alfredo sauce and Oreo cookies.  Before returning they had served us a snack of clam chowder soup, all food was very good.  While returning back we had come upon heavy fog while going into the harbor, fog horn blowing.  Got back into port about 5:30 in the rain, back to trailer and enjoyed the evening.

Valdez, Alaska

July 22,  Went for a drive today to Valdez Glacier, drove toward the old Valdez, which was destroyed by the 1964 earthquake, and then moved 4 miles west.  We drove back to Dayville Road to the Solomon Gulch Falls and Fish Hatchery, there was a lot of salmon spawning, someone said this is only the males, females won’t arrive until next week.  We watched the videos about spawning, how the hatchery take the eggs and sperm from fish, how they mix the two and how they take care of the eggs, until they are old enough to be released.  Back to trailer, walked and made reservations for a cruise tomorrow and then to Fat Mermaid Restaurant for lunch.

Valdez, Alaska

 July 21,  We continued our travels on Glenn Highway until we got to Richardson Highway, turning south toward Valdez.  Wasn’t long until we came upon Wrangell-St. National Park and Preserve Visitor Center, walked around, were going to watch the movie put we had to wait for about 1/2 hour and decided to leave, got my passport book stamped and bought a sticker for the book.  While driving toward Valdez, there was construction along the road, passed Worthington Glacier, stopping and walked toward it.  We had passed Bridal Veil and Horsetail Falls before arriving in Valdez about 2:30, got a campsite close to the harbor, Bear Paw campground, plan to stay 3-4 days, got setup and then walked across the street to the harbor and up the street to see the shops.

Glenn Highway

July 19,  Got up late this morning, really didn’t do anything today, walked around campground twice and just sat around the rest of the day relaxing.

July 20,  We pulled out about 9 am, got back out to Sterling Highway, headed north toward Anchorage, stopped at Costco for fuel and then walked in and had lunch.  Continued north through town and then got unto Glenn Highway heading northeast.  Wanted to stop in the town of Eagle River for some milk at WalMart but we missed it, think it was on the left side of road but was hidden from the bridge.  We then continued on to Palmer, was going to stop in that town too, but construction on the roadway, so we just continued on.  While driving we came upon Matanuska Glacier, which you can see from the highway, this glacier is the largest glacier accessible by personal vehicle.   The Glenn Highway is a very interesting drive with Mountain View’s everywhere with twists, curves and hilly, just beautiful with creeks running along side of the road.  After all the scenery it got flat and grassy, we decided to stop for the night at a rest area.  

Whittier, Alaska

July 18,  Drove to the town of Whittier today, known as the Gateway to Prince William Sound.  The only way into town is by train, ferry or by car, which you must go through a 2.6 mile tunnel, which is shared by the train, it is a one way tunnel.  Once you are in town it has a big harbor, shops and restaurants, we had fish & chips, halibut fish, and homemade clam chowder, which was all great.  There are two campgrounds, one right after you come through the tunnel and another in town.  Whittier was created by the U.S. Army during WWII as a parts and petroleum delivery center tied to bases farther north by the Alaska Railroad and later a pipeline.  The town became a primary debarkation point for cargo, troops and dependents of the Alaska Command.  Construction of the huge buildings that dominate Whittier began in 1948, and the Port of Whittier, strategically valuable for its ice-free deep-water port, remained activated until 1960, at which time the population was 1,200.  The city of Whittier was incorporated in 1969,  since military and government activities ceased, the economy of Whittier rests largely on the fishing industry, the port and increasingly on tourism.  You can see different glaciers all around you, the town sits in a valley, great little town to see and enjoy.  We sat for quite a while just watching people and the boats going in and out, and a ferry boat that docked.  When it was time to leave, we had to wait about 30 minutes before being able to go back through tunnel, had a great day.